Border officer guilty in bribery scheme

San Diego  A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bringing in illegal immigrants for financial gain and bribery, and will have to give up a trove of illicit goods, including a luxury car and jewelry, federal prosecutors in San Diego said.

Hector Rodriguez, 45, admitted at a court hearing Thursday that for almost two years he accepted bribes in exchange for allowing carloads of illegal immigrants at the San Ysidro border crossing to pass through without being checked at the lane he staffed.

Also pleading guilty was a co-defendant, Gerardo Rodriguez, who is not related but helped orchestrate the scheme and drove the cars.

Court records said that Hector Rodriguez on 37 different occasions allowed cars to pass through his inspection lane without being properly checked or documented in agency computers. In more than half of those instances, the cars he allowed through were being driven by Gerardo Rodriguez.

After crossing, Gerardo Rodriguez would collect cash for the transit, between $10,000 and $15,000 per person, according to statements made by immigrants who cooperated with investigators.

Hector Rodriguez was arrested on July 13 along with Gerardo Rodriguez, 42, and another co-defendant, Vanessa Moya, 30. She was also a driver who Hector Rodriguez allowed to pass through with a load of illegal immigrants. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and bringing in illegal immigrants for financial gain in December and is awaiting sentencing.

Hector Rodriguez had worked for the agency for about four years. He often stayed in an apartment in San Ysidro that was in the name of Gerardo Rodriguez, a former fellow Marine. When authorities searched the apartment they found fancy watches, flat-screen televisions and other items that investigators believe were bribes.

As part of his guilty plea, Hector Rodriguez will forfeit a 2009 Jaguar, a dozen luxury watches, including five Rolex watches, televisions, computers and jewelry. Gerardo Rodriguez will give up a 2005 Mercedes, a 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle, $60,000 in cash as well as computers and televisions, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A fourth defendant, Maria Guerrero of Chula Vista, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and smuggling charges and is scheduled to be sentenced April 22.

They face a maximum of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, and 15 years on the bribery and smuggling charges.